PACE called on Poroshenko and Putin to dialogue without intermediaries on the exchange of prisoners

Delegates of the parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe signed a Declaration which gives to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland on the mandate to work to ensure dialogue between the presidents of Ukraine and Russia without intermediaries on the exchange of prisoners of war and, in particular, of the Ukrainian pilots Hope Savchenko. About this on his page in Facebook said Vera Savchenko.

Grushnikov of the Russian Federation may transfer to Russia to serve his sentence — Matios

«We, the members of PACE, the undersigned, are concerned about the situation with the Ukrainian and Russian prisoners. In this regard, guided by the resolutions 20134 and 2077, the situation with Nadezhda Savchenko is of deep concern,» the statement says.

In the document the delegates noted that the Ukrainian and Russian presidents have publicly said at press conferences, respectively on 17 December 2015 and 14 January 2016, the desire to exchange political prisoners in accordance with Section 6 of the Minsk agreements of February 12, 2015.

«Therefore, we demand the attention of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe to the situation with these hostages, and especially to the case of Nadezhda Savchenko, a member of our Assembly, which still held behind bars in Russia for more than 1.5 years. By this Declaration we call on the Secretary-General, using public statements of senior officials of the two countries to take all necessary steps to become a mediator between Russia and Ukraine for the exchange of prisoners,» they said in the Declaration.

As reported, 25 January the lawyers of Savchenko, in particular, stated that the court in Russia’s Donetsk, the Rostov region, which considers the case of their defendant, denied 11 requests.

Lawyer Ilya Novikov called the hearing on 25 January «extravaganza, because we refused everything».

According to lawyers, Savchenko needs to interrogate at court session on 1 February.

In mid-December the court extended the arrest Savchenko until April 16. After that, she in protest announced another hunger strike.

Grushnikov of the Russian Federation may transfer to Russia to serve his sentence — Matios

Russian military Alexander Alexandrov and Eugenia Erofeeva can transfer to Russia to serve his sentence, which will determine the Ukrainian court. This was stated by the chief military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatoly Matios on air «Gromadsky».

«On the international legal treaties ratified by many States, including Russia, the variant of punishment citizens of other countries in terms of exchange of extradition in the territory of their own state. That is, the state whose citizens have committed a crime on the territory of Ukraine, can take its citizens and the Ukrainian sentence should provide serving their sentences,» he said.

While Matios added that he is confident in implicating the accused in the alleged crimes. And the question of extradition can be set if the corresponding address from Russian side.

Matios also noted that military prosecutors are not directly related to the negotiations for the exchange of prisoners.

As reported, on may 16 the ATO forces detained in a combat zone in the Luhansk region two Russian soldiers — captain Erofeev and Sergeant Alexandrov. During interrogation Erofeev admitted that headed diversionno-prospecting group of 12 people, composed of Alexandrov.

On 26 August the Deputy Prosecutor General — chief military Prosecutor of Ukraine Anatoliy Matios said that the pre-trial investigation against Erofeev and Alexandrova completed. He noted that the Russian servicemen are suspected of committing crimes under five articles of the Criminal code of Ukraine.

Matios also said that the Prosecutor’s office will ask the court to impose the maximum penalty for the Russian special forces.

On 23 December, the court extended the detention of Alexander and Erofeeva until 20 February 2016 due to the fact that previously assigned to them the measure of restraint in form of arrest was due to expire January 2, 2016.

PACE called on Poroshenko and Putin to dialogue without intermediaries on the exchange of prisoners 27.01.2016